Spider
by RebbieChan
Summary: Clarke encounters her first giant, possibly radioactive, spider. Clexa


Lexa stepped around Clarke form one side of the table to the other in search of a map. Their plan had to be perfect and the blonde Arker was bound and determined to make sure of it. They had been over the outer layout of the mountain at least five times now, but maybe if she brought out a map of the area she could prove to Clarke that yes, the tree line was roughly a hundred feet to the door.

As she crossed behind her, the girl backed up into her. Clarke uttered a gasp, "what the heck is that?"

Lexa tensed and scanned the direction she was staring in but saw nothing out of place. "What?" Her eyes darted back to Clarke for an answer. Even with the possibility of a threat she felt a bit of a rush at their proximity and had to remind herself to not let her gaze drift.

Clarke outstretched her hand to point under the table. "That!" Lexa looked to where she was pointing out. There, on the ground was an empty glass, a scrap of cloth, and a large eight-legged furry spider.

All the tension in her body slipped away. "The spider?" She asked dully. Had she simply not seen one before?

Clarke turned to face her with a hint of annoyance. "I've seen my share of spiders since we came to Earth. They're NOT that big or…hairy."

"There are many different types," Lexa said plainly. "You do not need to worry. This one isn't poisonous, though it may bite." It was from one of the strains that had been affected by radiation and was likely a few times larger than it would have been over a hundred years ago, but it was far from a strange or unsettling sight for a Grounder.

 _"Bite?"_ Her face contorted in exaggerated disgust. She glanced back at it as if trying to determine how exactly that would work. It inched forward and she lurched back and grabbed Lexa's arm. "It moved!"

Lexa stifled a laugh. "I take back what I said about you being a brave leader."

Clarke deadpanned at her, "Lexa I-" She cut off, about to say that she's normally the one going around killing spiders for the rest of her people, as it crawled a little closer to them. Her eyes widened. "Oh My God, Lexa, it's so gross!" Her cheeks were hot with embarrassment, she was not usually one to be squeamish but she had never seen anything like it before and it was huge.

She still had Lexa's arm, moving herself slightly behind her defensively. The touch sent a rush through the Grounder and while Clarke was clearly distressed she wasn't about to do anything about it just yet. "If it's a problem then kill it," Lexa said.

Clarke looked up at her warily, as if she were crazy to suggest it. It was getting harder and harder to hold back laughter and a strange smile worked at her lips.

"Okay," Clarke breathed out. She let her hands drop from Lexa's arm and stepped toward the table. There was a nice-sized book on the table that could serve well as a weapon against the creature. She moved to grab it but Lexa stopped her.

"Just use your boot."

"It's the size of my foot."

"It's not that-"But Lexa was cut off but the look of horror on Clarke's face.

"Where'd it go?" Clarke whipped around in search of the bug. "It's not on me, is it?" Lexa feigned a halfhearted look of surprise and Clarke instantly stiffed. "Get it off!"

This time Lexa did laugh. She pointed to the table, where it had climbed up and over their plans. "It's right there." Clarke was begin completely ridiculous, it was enjoyable to watch but she was glad she was the only one there. All her credibility as leader of the Sky People would have fallen through the cracks in the eyes of her warriors. That didn't stop her from watching in wonderment as the blonde spotted the spider with a startled jump.

Clarke faced her again, looking exhausted. "Can you do it?" She kept glancing back to keep an eye on it. Lexa answered her with nothing more than a dull look. "Fine," she sighed. She inched closer again and sized up the situation. Lexa watched as Clarke shook her hand inside her jacket sleeve and readied it near the spider.

She took a deep breath and swatted it onto the ground again. It landed on her foot and she leapt into the air and rounded behind Lexa again. "Please, Lexa, kill it!" Clarke's voice came out almost as a whimper. Her hands were against her back and Lexa was suddenly very happy Clarke was behind her and couldn't see her face. She was certain she was blushing.

Lexa bit her lip, trying to will the color from her cheeks. She looked over her shoulder at Clarke. "Alright."

She knelt down and picked the spider up. Perhaps Clarke was right about it being as big as her foot. Lexa rose and half-entertained the thought of tossing it in her direction to see her reaction.

The blonde caught the whisper of a mischievous glint in her eye and she backed up casting a warning look in her direction. Lexa turned the other way, she wasn't seriously thinking of doing it anyway.

She moved to the entrance flap of her tent. Her guard did a double take as she ducked out, tossed it, and ducked back in. "Happy, Clarke?"

Clarke stared at her for a moment. She relaxed as if realizing it was gone. "No," she threw her hand up in exaggerated exasperation as if making a joke of it now would make up for her embarrassing behavior before, "I don't know how I'm going to sleep ever again knowing those are out there."

Lexa wanted to respond with something along the lines of not having to worry about it if Clarke would sleep in here with her because she'd take care of it. But that would be dumb, very dumb of her, to suggest something like that. Instead she simply responded, "I'm sure you'll manage."


End file.
